Jun 16, 2008

Hey Weight... GO away!

So... obviously I am not terribly happy with my current weight. I have lost 30lbs and that is great. Heck I am back in my size 10's again (yippee!). I have however, 30 to 40 more to lose.


Last weekend when I crossed the finish line at AA I knew one thing - I finished stronger than I had started. I was a triathlete forged out of dirt and blood. It made me so happy to finish a race stronger than I was to start it. In fact, I finished stronger than I have felt in a long time. I broke myself down and rebuilt myself up over those 19.5 miles. And not once did I argue about the time. I took my mind off of a finishing time goal and just completed the race at my best effort. What a huge difference in my athletic life that was. Wowie wow wow.


I am in love with triathlons. The variability in it all. The variety. The strategy. The difficulty. The excitement!


It resparked my love of running, which I had been missing for years, previously running for all the wrong reasons - as an escape versus a pleasure. It introduced me to cycling, which I am pretty good at (hills excluded). It introduced me to swimming, which I feel happy doing (embrace the inner fishy!). I actually love all three disciplines. And I have pushed myself to grow in each sport individually, not just as bricks and multisport events.


However, I am still a runner at my core. And with that an internal alarm has sounded. Fall racing season is coming! This week kicks off the fall marathon training season. 16 weeks out from a good number of serious distanced races. Well I am doing it. I am throwing my towel into the endurance ring once again. I have a bone to pick with the 26.2 distance, so I am leaning towards my safety zone of 13.1. 8 weeks into my training I either suck it up and go for the long haul, or I pick up the speed and work on refining my half. So in 2 months I may just post that I am going for the Marathon... or that I plan on PRing in my half. We will see how I tackle the 16 milers to come before then... it is afterall a big mental game,and one that I am not positive I am up for this year.


This weightloss will help me keep on going stronger and stronger. I feel this amazing body waiting to crawl out of the fat shell I keep it in. I have a full 2008 schedule of races and travels, and with that I need to remain focused on dropping the weight FOR GOOD.



  • JUNE - AA triathlon, Wisconsin trip and Big Fish triathlon
  • JULY - Chicago 4th celebration with Shar/Matt and Carl's family triathlon
  • AUGUST - Mexico trip, Lansing Legislator triathlon (oly?), T-Rex Triathlon (maybe?), Island Lake of Novi triathlon, CRIM 10 miler
  • SEPTEMBER - Michigan Tri and Du championships, Autum Colors duathlon
  • OCTOBER - Brooksie Way half marathon, Detroit (half) marathon

Seeing the pictures of me from the race last weekend shocked me a little. The biking pictures especially. Dang. I feel that I did not do myself justice. I got to 30lbs down then I just sort of stopped. I feel that I am not taking myself as a healthy person seriously. I contradict myself and it is ticking me off. I do not consume sugar in my meals, but in that bag of dark chocolate peanut M&M's? THAT sugar doesn't count.


Hey a browie is zero points. It is a neccessity afterall. You cannot live without brownies!


I need to free myself from the shackles of this weight. But I have been trying to do this for years. Why will this time be different? Because this time... I REALLY want it for myself.


What I need to do is get back to tracking my daily inputs and expendatures. I balance my checkbook for my monetary health, why on earth did I stop balancing my "checkbook" for my overall health?


I really would love to push for the Olympic distance tri in August and the Marathon this fall. The only thing keeping from reaching those goals is me. I have dedication. Can I make the time to put in all that effort into swimming a mile? I need only 6 weeks or so to get there... so I know that I have JUST enough time to get to the distance if I start now. Do I have the mental power to overcome my fear of the 26.2 mile run? If I can keep time out of it, then yes. The problem is that the longer the race, the more concious about my pace I become. I have too much time to think and play numbers games. I need to teach myself to love to run that long distance. I need to fall in love with 4-6 hour runs. I can do it, I just wonder how long it will take me to get there. Run it and it will come. That should be my new mantra for distance events!


I guess that this is GO time.


Just where I am going to? Well now, that is a question for my life's journey. We will just have to wait and see for the answer!


Keep on running!


})i({ RG

5 comments:

chia said...

Sounds like a challenging plan!!! Good for you!

What's your PR for HM?

TNTcoach Ken said...

Welcome back RunnerGirl! Pretty impressive schedule of events, you can do whatever you put your mind to. Lose the lbs and kick some 26.2 butt.

MNFirefly said...

Marathon training and losing weight has been a struggle every year. I am still learning myself.,

MNFirefly said...

Marathon training and losing weight has been a struggle every year. I am still learning myself.,

Doug said...

Fall! It is June! Don't bring it on any faster.

What weight do you want to be?